Yes Please

Yes Please - Amy Poehler 
Alphabet Challenge 
5 out of 5 Stars 

Oh Amy Poehler you're so funny! I loved this book, it was witty, humorous, sad and just all around wonderful. I've been telling everyone about it! I have found that I really enjoy reading comedians auto biographies. Some, like this one,  I listen to on audio book which I like because they narrate the book themselves and it adds little nuances you don't get when reading it yourself. Here is the blurb from goodreads.com: In Amy Poehler’s highly anticipated first book, Yes Please, she offers up a big juicy stew of personal stories, funny bits on sex and love and friendship and parenthood and real life advice (some useful, some not so much), like when to be funny and when to be serious. Powered by Amy’s charming and hilarious, biting yet wise voice, Yes Please is a book full of words to live by. This was just a great, well written book by a super funny lady and seriously you should read it! 

The Lost Hero

The Lost Hero - Rick Riordan 
Eclectic Reader Challange 
Middle Grade/ YA Adventure 
5 out of 5 Stars

So I have a confession:  I am a grown woman and yet I love YA novels. I adore the stories, the innocent romance, and the coming of age drama, I just love it all and this one did not disappoint. This series is a sequel of sorts to the Percy Jackson series which is one of my absolute favorites. The main focus is on 3 new heroes but our old favorites are there as background players which is really cool. I also enjoyed the slightly new take on a world I have become very familiar with, I won't spoil it for you but it's a very neat twist. Here is the goodreads.com blurb as per normal... 

Jason has a problem. He doesn’t remember anything before waking up in a bus full of kids on a field trip. Apparently he has a girlfriend named Piper, and a best friend named Leo. They’re all students at a boarding school for “bad kids.” What did Jason do to end up here? And where is here, exactly? 
Piper has a secret. Her father has been missing for three days, ever since she had that terrifying nightmare about his being in trouble. Piper doesn’t understand her dream, or why her boyfriend suddenly doesn’t recognize her. When a freak storm hits during the school trip, unleashing strange creatures and whisking her, Jason, and Leo away to someplace called Camp Half-Blood, she has a feeling she’s going to find out. 
Leo has a way with tools.When he sees his cabin at Camp Half-Blood, filled with power tools and machine parts, he feels right at home. But there’s weird stuff, too—like the curse everyone keeps talking about, and some camper who;s gone missing. Weirdest of all, his bunkmates insist that each of them—including Leo—is related to a god. Does this have anything to do with Jason's amnesia, or the fact that Leo keeps seeing ghosts?

I enjoyed the story and the characters and actually can't wait to read the sequels, you all should give this a try too... but start with The Lighting Thief, in the Percy Jackson series if you haven't read those first. Happy reading everyone! 

Safe Haven

Safe Haven - Nicolas Sparks 
Eclectic Reader Challenge
Contemporary Romance
4 out of 5 Stars

So this is your basic Nicholas Sparks novel, it made me laugh, it made me cry, it made me realize there are really weird people in the world etc...but overall I really enjoyed it. It had just the right balance of happy, funny, and sad moments to keep me hooked. Katie was a sweet character and I found myself rooting for her. I had seen the movie a while back but as is usual the book is so much better there are just so many more details that make it a more vibrant and compelling story. Here is the goodreads.com blurb:  

Love hurts. There is nothing as painful as heartbreak. But in order to learn to love again, you must learn to trust again.When a mysterious young woman named Katie appears in the small North Carolina town of Southport, her sudden arrival raises questions about her past. Beautiful yet self-effacing, Katie seems determined to avoid forming personal ties until a series of events draws her into two reluctant relationships: one with Alex, a widowed store owner with a kind heart and two young children; and another with her plainspoken single neighbor, Jo. Despite her reservations, Katie slowly begins to let down her guard, putting down roots in the close-knit community and becoming increasingly attached to Alex and his family.But even as Katie begins to fall in love, she struggles with the dark secret that still haunts and terrifies her . . . a past that set her on a fearful, shattering journey across the country, to the sheltered oasis of Southport. With Jo’s empathic and stubborn support, Katie eventually realizes that she must choose between a life of transient safety and one of riskier rewards . . . and that in the darkest hour, love is the only true safe haven.

 You have to hand it to Nicholas Sparks the man knows what he's doing with a romance novel and I am sure I will continue to read his novels even though they always make me cry. Hope you all enjoy!

The Magician's Nephew

The Magician's Nephew - C.S. Lewis 
To Be Read Pile
3 out of 5 Stars

This was a fun, quick read. I loved all the movies about Narnia and very much wanted to know how it all got started,  so I started from the beginning although technically this is the 6th book in the series. Digory and Polly were fun characters and I enjoyed their story. Here is the good reads blurb: When Digory and Polly are tricked by Digory's peculiar Uncle Andrew into becoming part of an experiment, they set off on the adventure of a lifetime. What happens to the children when they touch Uncle Andrew's magic rings is far beyond anything even the old magician could have imagined. Hurtled into the Wood between the Worlds, the children soon find that they can enter many worlds through the mysterious pools there. In one world they encounter the evil Queen Jadis, who wreaks havoc in the streets of London when she is accidentally brought back with them. When they finally manage to pull her out of London, unintentionally taking along Uncle Andrew and a coachman with his horse, they find themselves in what will come to be known as the land of Narnia. 

The Perks of Being a Wallflower

The Perks of Being a Wallflower - Stephen Chbosky 
Eclectic Reader - Epistolary Fiction 
To Be Read Pile 
3 out of 5 stars 

This was a quick little read that was very enjoyable. Charlie is a quirky straight forward guy and I found myself rooting for him and at times relating to him in a nostalgic way. Here is blurb from goodreads.com: Charlie is a freshman. And while he's not the biggest geek in the school, he is by no means popular. Shy, introspective, intelligent beyond his years yet socially awkward, he is a wallflower, caught between trying to live his life and trying to run from it. Charlie is attempting to navigate his way through uncharted territory: the world of first dates and mix tapes, family dramas and new friends; the world of sex, drugs, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show, when all one requires is that perfect song on that perfect drive to feel infinite. But he can't stay on the sideline forever. Standing on the fringes of life offers a unique perspective. But there comes a time to see what it looks like from the dance floor. The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a deeply affecting coming-of-age story that will spirit you back to those wild and poignant roller-coaster days known as growing up. Overall I enjoyed this book, the characters were easy to relate to and fun to watch develop. I think I ask the same questions everyone else does, such as, who is Charlie writing to and why did Chbosky chose to write the book as letters but these are questions that will most likely never be answered and I am ok with that, it adds to the mystery of the book. 

Outlander

Outlaner - Diana Dabaldon 
4 out of 5 Stars

Whew, this book is huge! It does not fit into any of my challenges but I had been really wanting to read it as I have seen some of the Starz TV show and it did not disappoint. Here is the goodreads.com blurb: The year is 1945. Claire Randall, a former combat nurse, is just back from the war and reunited with her husband on a second honeymoon when she walks through a standing stone in one of the ancient circles that dot the British Isles. Suddenly she is a Sassenach—an “outlander”—in a Scotland torn by war and raiding border clans in the year of Our Lord...1743. Hurled back in time by forces she cannot understand, Claire is catapulted into the intrigues of lairds and spies that may threaten her life, and shatter her heart. For here James Fraser, a gallant young Scots warrior, shows her a love so absolute that Claire becomes a woman torn between fidelity and desire—and between two vastly different men in two irreconcilable lives. So basically I loved this book it has everything I enjoy, a little romance, a little adventure and a little magic. This book is not for everyone and is a little daunting at 850ish pages but was worth powering through. Since it is such a big book there is a ton of information which can be a little overwhelming and I found the beginning a little slow. The history involved with the story was fascinating for me and I enjoyed getting lost in the Scottish Highlands.  Overall a great read and I will eventually get to the rest of the series. 

Black Dawn

Black Dawn,  Rachel Caine 
To Be Read Pile Challenge 
3 out of 5 Stars 

I'm Baaacckkkk! :-) ..... so I haven't posted in about 2 months but that doesn't mean I have not been reading! I finished this book and the next in the Morganville Vampires series and I am almost done with Outlander, which is a huge book! But here I will review Black Dawn. 

This is the 12th book in the Morganville Vampires series which is about a small town in Texas run by ruthless vampires in which Claire Danvers and her friends try to live peacefully. Here is the premise for this book from goodreads.com: With its eclectic mix of vampire and human citizens, Morganville, Texas, has always been a risky place to call home. But with the invasion of the vampire’s deadliest enemy, Morganville isn’t just in danger—it’s dying… Ever since the draug—mysterious creatures that prey on vampires—took over Morganville, the lives of student Claire Danvers and her friends have been thrown into turmoil. Most of the town’s residents have evacuated, but Claire, Shane, Eve and Michael have chosen to stay and fight.Using the city’s water system to spread, the draug have rapidly multiplied. Things in Morganville look grim, especially since vampire Amelie—the town founder—has been infected by the master draug’s bite. Now, if Claire and her friends don’t figure out how to cure Amelie and defeat the draug, it looks like Morganville will become little more than a ghost town…
So this book series is not for everyone but I started it long ago and I must finish! I love vampire books and I am not ashamed of that. I have read many series in that genre. The Morganville Vampire series has been one of my favorite series because the vampires are evil and not good. This book, however; was slow in many places and I feel that is because it's the 12th book in the series and Caine usually puts out 2 books a year. I was curious about the draug and  how everything was going to play out with Amelie but honestly it was by no means my favorite in the series. Alas,  I will keep reading until the Claire & Co. stories are done.